Unlike yesterday's post on Chinese cars being imported to the US, I'm going to talk today about US cars being imported to China.
This is non-news to anyone involved in the auto industry, but I'm not entirely sure how well-understood it is otherwise: Buick is totally hot stuff in China. In fact, it's so hot that GM sells more Buicks in China than it does in the US. You can read all about it at the section of the Buick Wikipedia article devoted to China.
So it's similarly non-news that this year, Buick's concept Riviera is branded in Hànzi alongside the predictably present Roman script; it's along the right side of the trunklid in the photo above. Of course, the Riviera concept (incidentally the ninth evolution of the car) was originally debuted in Shanghai last year—putting even more spin on the fact that China is so important to the brand.
Given Buick's lackluster US sales and the ongoing problem of overbranding at GM (even despite the thinning that occured a few years ago—R.I.P. Oldsmobile), I wouldn't be at all surprised to hear that production of Buick nameplates was going to be scaled back dramatically and efforts focused on the east.
Strange times.
Hanging out where I do and seeing all the buicks I see everyday - the brand hardly seems dead. Enclave, and Lucerne everywhere!!
That's true, but it seems that Detroit is something of an abberation.
The relative proportion of new Buicks I see outside the American-car mecca (and outside rental fleets) is very, very low. In contrast, there's no shortage of Suburbans and Corvettes.
--D
Gah, The demographics of my area you are a fag unless you drive a Tahoe, Camaro, or a Truck.
Is there any special dispensation for anyone with a mullet driving a Cavalier?
Actually, here in Texas they would rather been seen in a late 80's S-10 Blazer than a Cavalier of the same era over in New Mexico.
Maybe the cupholders on the S-10's hold that Big Gulp spit cup better.
So they sell, what, 10 a year in China?
Hah